Ex-chief of city prosecutor's gun unit charged with gun possession

The former chief of the Baltimore State's Attorney's office's gun unit was arrested over the weekend and charged with a handgun violation, records show.

Matthew Fraling, 49, who spent 23 years as a city prosecutor and oversaw prosecutions of gun offenders for his final two years, was pulled over on Friday night at about 11:45 p.m. in the 2500 block of Guilford Ave. after an officer in an unmarked vehicle began following him.

The officer, Det. Kenneth Ramberg, wrote in charging documents that Fraling was pulled over after he crossed the center line, and he initially told the officer he did not have any weapons on him or in the vehicle. Ramberg asked Fraling to step out of the vehicle and again asked if there were any guns, and Fraling said he had one in the vehicle's center console for which he did not have a permit to carry.

Fraling, who is now a lobbyist, told the officer he was driving back from meeting a client.

A loaded .38 caliber revolver was seized by police, and Fraling was taken to Central Booking, where he spent 12 hours before being released on his own recognizance, according to his attorney, Arthur McGreevy.

"We feel we have excellent defenses to this case, and feel he'll be exonerated," McGreevy said. "This is a guy who legally has a gun, and the issue wil come to where he was transporting it to and how."

He also said Fraling did not receive special treatment by being released on his own recognizance. "They could've issued a summons, and they chose to arrest him. He wasn't treated any differently," McGreevy said.